Asian Persuasion
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one hundred and fifty-five: On Tina's 14th birthday, she and Mike have an arcade encounter.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh cycle. Now here's cycle 8!_

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**"Asian Persuasion"  
Mike & Tina**

***This story is brought to you by the birthday wishes of an awesome friend :D***

On the morning of her fourteenth birthday, Tina had one thing on her mind. Her father had promised a special present, which they'd be going to the mall to get, after breakfast. He'd been playfully teasing her all week, and she took as much pleasure taking wild and impossible guesses. The trend maintained on the day itself.

"Think I got it," she told him as they got in the car.

"Hit me," he dared her.

"Motorcycle," she grinned.

"Not for another four years," he shook his head, and she laughed.

When they arrived at the mall, her father learned it would take a while before he could get a hold of the present, which he'd ordered.

So rather than having her wait around, getting bored, he gave her money to go to the arcade. Pleased as punch, she sped off. When she got there, she looked around, trying to decide which game to play first. She finally found one, which she played for about five minutes. It was as she got up to change games that she spotted someone she knew.

Mike Chang went to her school, though they didn't exactly hang out. Some people would think they were related, because of their names, and after a while they'd stopped bothering themselves about it.

He was playing Dance Dance Revolution… no, he was owning it. She stood there watching him for a while, not realizing it might be closer to 'staring' than 'watching.' She realized this when he turned, caught a glimpse of her and stopped.

"Hi," he nodded. She blinked, remembered her manners, and waved.

"S-sorry," she nodded before turning to leave.

"Wait!" he called, hopping off the platform and catching up to her in three long steps. "You want to play?" she stopped and looked at him. "No one will play me." She nodded, as though to say 'who would? You always win.' "Please?" he smiled.

"O-okay," she finally nodded, following him. In the time he'd stepped away, a pair of kids their age had taken over the game, so they waited for their turn.

"Haven't seen you here before," he told her. "First time?"

"N-no, I just d-don't come much…" she explained. There was a short silence and, for no reason she could understand, she then said, "It's my birthday," with a nod. She immediately felt silly for bringing it up, but then Mike looked at her.

"Happy birthday," he smiled, then grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the game.

"W-where are you…"

"Don't worry, we'll come back. First though…" he pointed to the small stand where they sold ice cream, which indicated they could get a free sundae on their birthday. He went and returned with two cups. "If anyone asks, we're twins so it's both our birthdays," he handed her one cup. She laughed and nodded.

"Thanks," she told him as they started back for the platform.

"Look, they just added a karaoke machine," he pointed with his spoon.

"N-no way," she chuckled. "Do you know what'll happen if you and I go up there?" she nodded to the machine.

"Nineties pop anthem?" he guessed, looking back at her. She smirked. "Fine, fine, it's silly anyway… it's all about the eighties," he nodded confidently, making Tina almost choke on ice cream and chocolate syrup. They made it back to the platform, where the same two kids were playing.

"I'm n-not very good," she warned him. He shrugged as he ate another spoonful of sundae.

"Forget about points, just have fun," he suggested. Looking at the cups, he thought of something. "How's your stomach after ice cream, strong?" He nodded to one of the kids currently playing, who had ice cream stains on his shirt and a greenish tone to his skin.

"Freakishly strong," she assured him, cringing at the sight of the other boy. A moment later, he dashed off in search of the nearest port for being sick, and his friend went after him and Tina looked to one another.

"Well, it's our turn," he nodded, and she laughed. "Come on," they moved on to the platform after throwing out their empty cups. "Ready?" he asked her as he reset the game.

"I-I…" she started, nervous, before looking back at Mike with confidence inspired by what he'd told her before. "Ready."

As she'd expected, he was dancing circles around her, but she didn't focus on that. No, it was her birthday, and she would have fun. The more she held on to that, the better she felt she got. When they stopped, she didn't even bother to look how she'd done against him. She was filled with giddiness and laughter, which seemed to have taken the place of breath and some steadiness in her feet when it came to standing or walking straight. Mike stuck by her side as they left the game, making sure she wouldn't fall. He took her to sit on a bench.

"T-thanks," she told him. He looked at her. "It was great," she nodded. He smiled, and it was as though they shared a thought. "How come we d-don't hang out more?" He shrugged.

"Maybe some time," he suggested. She smiled and nodded, just as she spotted her father coming. Before they parted ways, she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. She was surprised at her own courage.

"Really good birthday," she smiled before running off, catching a glimpse of Mike's wave from over her shoulder… good, good birthday.

THE END


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